5th Asian Awards

(MB) HONG KONG – It may have been a singular apparition but it made the biggest sensation.

“Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives,” the lone entry by Thailand that’s nominated in just one category at the 5th Asian Film Awards (AFA), lassoed in Best Film in ceremony held at the Hong Kong Convention Exhibition Centre on March 21.

Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the triumph of “Uncle Boonmee” at the 5th Asian Awards is deemed more prestigious in that it lambasted competitors that were nominated in several other categories, even winning in some of these. These films were “Aftershock” and “Let the Bullets Fly” (both from Mainland China/ Hong Kong), “Confessions” (Japan), “Peepli Live” (India) and “Poetry” (South Korea).

Then again, this probably didn’t come as a surprise to the cineastes that have been following the results of other film festivals. In 2010, “Uncle Boonmee” won the Palme d’Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival---the first Asian film to win the award since 1997.

“Uncle Boonmee” tells the story of the last days in the life of an old man in northern Thailand. Painterly beautiful and meditative, the film has been described as “a masterful work on the eternal themes of death and memory.”

Although Thailand copped the highest honor, South Korea cornered the lion’s share of the trophies, winning five out of 18. These were for Best Director and Best Screenplay (Lee Chang-dong, “Poetry”), Best Actor (Ha Jung-woo, “The Yellow Sea”), Best Supporting Actress (Yoon Yeo-Jeong, “The Housemaid) and Best Editing (Nam Na-young, “I Saw The Devil”).

Japan, towards which almost everyone at the awards expressed condolence in light of the recent earthquake that shook the country, grabbed two honors namely Best Production Designer (Hayashida Yuji, “13 Assassins”) and Best Cinematographer (Mark Lee Ping-bin, “Norwegian Wood”).

The Philippines did not get a nomination this year but Filipino director Brillante Mendoza was one of those who presented The Asian Film Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asian Cinema special award to Kim Dong-ho, the founding director of the Pusan Film Festival. The Pinoy connection is also at play through Mendoza who is jointly directed “Quattro Hong Kong 2” with Weerasethakul, and two other Asian directors. “Quattro Hong Kong 2” opened the 35th Hong Kong International Film Festival on March 20.

Musical numbers rendered at the 5th Asian Film Awards were by Chinese pop singer Han Geng and Indian band Indian Ocean (whose song, “Peepli Live,” won Best Music Score).

Three other special awards were presented at the ceremony: The Promotion of Asian Cinema Award - Fortissimo Films; The Lifetime Achievement Award - Raymond Chow; and The Asian Film Award for 2010’s Top-Grossing Film – “Aftershock.”

Other winners of the 5th AFA are:

 BEST ACTRESS - Xu Fan / “Aftershock” (Mainland China / Hong Kong)

 BEST NEWCOMER- Mark Chao You-Ting / “Monga” (Taiwan)

 BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Sammo Hung Kam-po / “IP MAN 2” (Hong Kong)

 BEST VISUAL EFFECTS - Phil Jones, Zhang Yan-ming / “Aftershock” (Mainland China/ Hong Kong)

 BEST COSTUME DESIGNER- William Chang Suk-ping / “Let The Bullets Fly” (Mainland China / Hong Kong)

Moët & Chandon has pledged to donate HK$10,000 for each Award category and each of the four special Awards distributed to support the Japan Disaster Relief, with a total of HK$180,000.